How Do We Judge Statements Based on the Speaker

Lately I've been thinking about perceptions a lot. The way we see people obviously changes how we view their words and actions. For example, I have believed that religious beliefs should have no bearing on politics. When I identified myself as someone who was extremely religious, this view was taken with a lot of weight. My opinion counted. Now I still have the same view, but people say "Well of course you think that. You don't understand what it means to have the law challenge your morals". And even more often they don't say that, they just think it.

If you were previously in a position of privilege and move to one without it do your thoughts and opinions become worth less? What about your actions, previous and present, do they count differently? In some ways it seems like they shouldn't, but it is much easier for an atheist to say that religion is irrelevant to the way we govern ourselves than a theist. It doesn't feel right to give more weight to one than the other. Yet it does make sense in some ways.

About this Blog and Me

I have opinions.

Sometimes I can't keep them to myself. I used to journal religiously. Mostly back when I was religious. I found that when I didn't write in my journal stupider than normal things popped out of my mouth. If I wrote down those thoughts somewhere others couldn't see than I didn't have to worry about how others would react to them. As I grew older it became more difficult to find the time to write and more difficult to trust that siblings, parents, or roommates wouldn't accidentially stumble upon it. My faith in the power of journaling also waned every time someone at church gave a lesson on how it would help future generations. Nothing horrified me more than the thought of my great great grandchildren reading about that guy in my shop class I was madly in love with in middle school.

Recently I went back to journaling. It's therapeutic. But it doesn't quite cut it. I can write the things I can't share but what about the things I want to share? What about the movies I love or the rhetoric I hate? Those things won't fit into 140 characters on my Twitter. I can only fit so many things into my Facebook profile. So, here's a blog.

What can you expect?
I am in the position to see most movies for free, so you can expect lots of movie reviews.
In a related vein, I watch an absurd amount of television and like I said, I love to share my opinions.
I am a pretty big geek so there will be loads of SciFi/Nerd stuff popping up here.
I work for minimum wage, previously at a movie theater, currently at a Target Starbucks.
I am an ex-Mormon which means you can expect me to be kinda critical of Mormon sub-culture.
I have an abnormally large number of gay friends which makes LGBTQ topics especially important to me.
I'm kinda bad at grammar (I'm having an affair with a comma--it's a secret, don't tell). If you see a mistake, please let me know!
General Rule of Thumb: I blog about things I care about. Hopefully that lines up with what you're interested in.